The Amazon is the largest and most species-rich rainforest in the world. It is vital for animal and plant species, but also for humans. Despite that, the deforestation of the Amazon continues and in February the devastation hit a new record.
The Amazon rainforest covers about 3,5 percent of the planet's surface and stretches across nine countries in South America – Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Ecuador and French Guiana. About ten percent of all the world's animal species live in the Amazon, and it is also there that the greatest species richness in the form of trees is found. In addition, 34 million people live and work there as farmers, in tourism or in the mining and oil industry. Around three million indigenous people also live in the rainforest.
Man drives deforestation
Deforestation is a major threat to the Amazon. What drives deforestation is first and foremost humans, and this primarily to make room for farmland or to be able to use the forest for something other than forestry, according to Greenpeace. The depredation can, for example, involve the establishment of large plantations to produce soy. In rare cases, deforestation is also due to natural forest fires, but normally fires do not occur naturally in tropical rainforests, but are usually set.
Deforestation is ongoing all the time, but the amount varies over time and place. The largest part of the rainforest, approximately 60 percent, extends over Brazil - and it is also where the most deforestation occurs. As the world's largest exporter of beef, there is a great need for pasture in the country. After Brazil, it is mainly Bolivia and Peru that have shown the most devastation. Bolivia is one of the countries where rainforest has been taken over by the growing livestock and agriculture industries, according to the organization Amazon Watch.
The deforestation of the Amazon breaks a new record
In February this year, the devastation of the Amazon broke a new record. 322 square kilometers of rainforest were razed during the month, which is 62 percent more than during the same month last year. Lula Da Silva, Brazil's new president, has promised to stop the devastation that sharply increased under the leadership of representative Jair Bolsonaro, writes Omni.
- We will do whatever it takes to reach zero devastation, said Lula da Silva during the COP27 meeting in Egypt in October.
